How Do You Write A Term Paper In The APA Format: Structure Rules Worth Following

Documentation styles in fields of social and behavioural sciences and in the fields of humanities are primarily of two types. One is the MLA style in which the MLA stands for the Modern Language Association.The other one about which we’re concerned about is the APA style. The APA in the APA format stands for the American Psychological Association.

The MLA style is the primary documentation style when one is working with subjects related to literature, linguistics and humanities. The APA style is the preferred documentation style used by the people who are associated with the many fields in social sciences.

Now the need for the APA format was to provide clarity and to strengthen documentation done in the various scientific fields.

In order to write a term paper in the APA format, the following structure rules are worth following:

Documentation in this format is supposed to include the following:

a page dedicated to the title of the paper,

a section containing the abstract,

an introduction,

a section for the method implemented,

a section for the results produced,

a section designated for a discussion on the whole process,

a section on the references used and

an appendix.

Including figures or tables is optional and one may exploit this option as suited to his or her needs.

Some general guidelines

The document has to be typed using a computer.

It should be printed out on standard white paper of the dimensions: 8.5 inch x 11 inch.

The paper in its entirety should be double-spaced.

A readable font should be employed for the purpose such as Times New Roman.

A single space is to be left after any of the punctuation marks.

The width of the margin should be 1 inch from all page sides.

The very first line of a paragraph mustbe indented one and a half inch away from the left margin by pressing the Tab button once or by using 5 spaces.

Usage of the active voice is preferred over passive voice.

Giving headings is optional and if given, the major ones should be centre justified. Every word in the heading has to be capitalized excluding prepositions,conjunctions and articles.

If one is quoting from the work of another author, one has to give the year of publication, the page numeral (preceded by a “p.”) and the author’s name.

One should be careful not to place page breaks in-between the different sections which include the introduction, the section on the method implemented, results and the section for discussions.